On the other Side of the Coin – A Draw of Destiny
by LilyJunePotter
Summary: Flipping a coin is a draw of destiny, and in the magical world, with one toss it's possible to change the future. Sirius sets in motion a chain of events which leads to different choices, a different Halloween, a different life. How the story could have been, if only the coin had landed on its other side. AU, begins in 1981
1. Chapter 1 - Heads or Tails

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything affiliated with the series. However, I like to borrow J. K. Rowling's world and create new, hopefully entertaining, plots.**

 **Reviews are always greatly appreciated, especially since I don't know if this might be an interesting story to you guys. So, please let me know. :)**

 **The very first chapter might be a little confusing, but the plot will rapidly become clear in the following chapters, I hope at least. Anyway, I believe that the summary already gives away quite enough information for you to guess...**

 **Enjoy!**

 **On the other Side of the Coin – A Draw of Destiny**

 **Chapter 1 – Heads or Tails**

 **21st October 1981**

Sirius Black sat in a bar sipping his drink, deep in thought. He'd just come from James' and Lilys place, where he had proposed to change the plan. Originally James had asked him to be their secret keeper. As his best mate ever since the first train ride to Hogwarts, he'd trust him with his life and the lives of his loves ones, Lily and Harry. It hadn't taken Sirius even a split-second to agree to keep their secret safe and protect it with his life if need be, but recently he'd changed his mind. Not that he wouldn't lay his life done to protect his friends and their baby boy, because he would and would so without regret, but he feared to be the wrong man for keeping the most important secret.

Ever since Lily and James had learned about the prophecy from Dumbledore, they had gone into hiding, even more so after the headmaster's spies had confirmed that it was Harry who Voldemort believed to be the prophesied threat. Now, with things turning dire and the dark forces seeming to soon prevail nothing was more important than to keep little Harry safe. His parents knew of the prophecy, as well the Longbottoms were aware of its existence. But only after Voldemort picked Harry, had Dumbledore shared the exact wording with Lily and James. Sirius, however, did not know it and he didn't need to. What he knew was quite sufficient to elucidate his friends' dilemma. The Dark Lord seemed to have learned of the birth of a child, which would hold the power to destroy him. Unfortunately, he believed this child to be James' and Lily's son and was now hunting for him. With the constant threat of Death Eater attacks and the Ministry wavering Lily and James had to go to tremendous length to protect their family. Dumbledore had helped by finding an old but powerful charm which would magically seal the family in a protected location which only the Secret Keeper was able to reveal. Dumbledore had proposed himself for this post, not considering it wise to choose either of the Potters, since the need might occur to allow a new person entry to their refuge and the Potters, whilst living secluded, would not have much contact with the outside world. They would need to hide. Thus the choice had fallen on Sirius, trusted friend of the couple. Lily had been studying the books Dumbledore had provided and was now nearly ready to cast the charm, but recent developments had changed Sirius' mind.

While being an Auror meant to lead a dangerous life, even if he only graduated relatively recently, the attack carried out on him during his last visit to Diagon Alley had been something of a wakeup call. His crazy cousin Bellatrix and her deranged husband seemed to be out to get him. He thought it might have to do with this younger brother's disappearance and Bellatrix fearing the Black family heirlooms being left in Sirius' possession after his mother would die or it could very well be his obvious association with James. Since it was widely known that they were best friends since school, it was logical that they would come for Sirius sooner or later. This fact, however, wasn't not what had made him queasy. It was rather that Voldemort and his follower were very much aware of his link to the Potters and that he would be their first choice as Secret Keeper. It was way too obvious and in perilous times like these, they could _not_ afford obvious. Therefore Sirius had called upon Peter and together they had met with Lily and James. He'd proposed switching places with Peter and then going into hiding. This way he would ensure Voldemort thought him to be the Secret Keeper and it might even be possible to lure him into a trap, if they were extremely lucky. But even if they weren't and Sirius got captured, he would not be able to reveal their location, no matter what torture Voldemort would resolve to or what other methods he would devise to break him. Lily and James would be safe and Sirius was fairly confident to last at least a few days in Voldemorts claws such that Lily and James would be alarmed by the lack of Patronus messages that Sirius promised to send every three days, and would know that something was wrong. This way they could move in time, even if Sirius should crack and spill the beans about Peter being the one who truly guards the secret. Voldemort would then have to capture Peter as well as torture the secret out of him. By then, Lily and James would be long gone and Harry safe. It had taken him a while but in the end both Lily and James had agreed to chance tactics and Peter had agreed as well.

Thus, now, Sirius Black sat in a Muggle bar and enjoyed a strong Scotch, a luxury which he assumed would not happen that often once he would be on the move. He mused about how best to prepare for his going into hiding. He'd have to leave a lot of stuff behind, but his motorcycle he would keep, that was for sure. However he needed to research protective and concealing charms tomorrow and start to buy enough equipment soon. With a wary expression Sirius looked at his now empty glass. He had a lot of preparations to start with but on the other hand when would he be able to enjoy another excellent Scotch? Rather not soon, he guessed.

Unwilling to decide, he pulled a coin out of his pocket. A fat Galleon shimmered golden between his fingers.

"Heads, I'll stay for one more drink, tails, I'll go home", he whispered.

Then, with a light flip of his hand, he threw the coin into the air, catching it again between his palms.

A small grin split Sirius' face as he saw the metal in his hand. Fate seemed to be good to him at least tonight.

"Barkeeper, another one if you will", he said quite pleased.

He would never really be able to fully appreciate how much would have changed, if this tiny Galleon had landed on the tail side.

We all know the stories of Harry Potter's life, if the coin had shown tails, but now, fate has thrown us on the other side of the coin.

 _~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~_

 _Happy to get your opinion. :)_


	2. Chapter 2 - Heading with heads

**Hi everyone,**

 **thank you for the nice reviews. I`m very glad to know that some of you like the story so far. Hopefully it will stay this way. I believe this chapter will give you a better idea regarding the main plot. All reviews are welcome, criticism as well as positive comments :)**

 **Please note that the chapters are probably going to get progressively longer as the story continues.**

 **Enjoy the re** ** **a** d.  
**

 **~o~**

 **Chapter 2 – Heading with Heads**

 **21st October 1981**

Sirius Black still sat at the bar, still deep in thought. Mentally he was preparing for tomorrow's errands he would definitely have to make before work, coming up with a list of items he needed to purchase to ensure that Voldemort would not too easily be able to track him down.

"Er, excuse me?!", a voice said.

But Sirius continued to stare straight ahead, trying to figure out if the miniature spell would work on his motorcycle. He was not planning on leaving his baby behind, not if he could avoid it. He was thinking about whether to hide in the Muggle world or move to random locations every few days, when something – or rather someone – tugged at his sleeves. Jerking out of his daydreams, Sirius turned around only to see a woman looking at him with attention.

"May I?", she asked, pointing to the menu which was buried under Sirius' elbows. He gallantly slid it over for her to have a look at it.

"I'd recommend you this one here", he said nodding to his glass, "excellent Scotch."

The woman gave his drink an investigative look and then smiled.

"I'll have the same", she told the barkeeper and sat down. Sirius, now curious, observed the woman from the corner of his eye. She seemed young, with dull brown hair and a small noise, but her smile was pleasant.

"Christine", she said noticing that Sirius was staring at her. Sirius' mouth twitched slightly.

"James", he responded. He had good reason not to use this own name. Usually muggle women found it rather curious, but most importantly, it was too distinctive of a name to be used casually in this war time, even with muggles. Moody had drilled it into his head – constant vigilance!

As he and Christine chatted and then began to quite clearly flirt with one another her smile grew larger and larger and Sirius' as well. He knew he shouldn't be irresponsible and staying up this late would ensure that he did just that. He knew he would have to postpone a large portion of his errands to the day after, but this coincidental meeting turned out to lift Sirius' spirit. For a few hours, he felt lighter than he had for quite some time, since learning about the prophecy looming over his godson. He felt like he was supposed to be, a careless, young man, free of too much worry. Between a drink and Christine's easy smiles, he momentarily pushed his troubles away.

When the bar closed in the middle of the night, he decided to accompany his new acquaintance to her home. The streets weren't safe at night, especially not in this climate and not for a pretty, drunk girl and quite frankly, Christine had been enjoying herself tonight. This is how Sirius found himself in a muggle taxi, whose driver rushed through the deserted streets of London seemingly knowing here to go. He wondered how long it would be before he would ever have a night out like this one. Going into hiding did certainly not come with many perks, he thought. As the car halted at a traffic light, Sirius looked through the window, his eyes tired. Next to them was a small park, almost hidden in the dark. Sirius yawned and felt the tiredness slump over him. He really needed his bed and hoped that no one would have the stupid idea to floocall him early in the morning. He certainly would have preferred apparating home, he'd be sleeping now if he hadn't felt obliged to see Christine home.

Then, when the traffic light turned green, Sirius saw a figure walking by. He jerked up and sat straight, his tiredness instantly gone. Quickly turning his head around he tried to have a second look, but the taxi already sped forward. Sirius however was quite sure who he had seen. He knew the shape of one of his best friends more than well and that man back there on the sidewalk sure seemed to be Wormtail. But the strange thing wasn't the blunt chance of encountering him in the middle of London. No, they were passing the streets near Charing Cross Road. The Leaky Cauldron lay there, so it was normal to meet some magical folk in the surrounding area. No Sirius' problem was that Peter was _not_ supposed to be there. He was supposed to be home, recovering from the flu. It had been only yesterday that he had told him, Lily and James that he wasn't feeling too well right after he had agreed to be the Secret Keeper. Today, Sirius was sure, he had called in sick at work. Sirius knew because he had offered to bring him lunch, but Peter had refused, saying that he did not want to infect Sirius as well. _So, if Peter was too sick to want his friends to come and comfort him, what by Merlin's mighty manhood was he doing walking around the streets of London completely alone at night?_

Sirius felt uneasy.

 _There must be a reason, a simple reason. Just don't panic Padfoot, this means nothing. This is Peter! You know him! He would never…_

But whatever reasoning Sirius used to wilfully distract himself from the evil conclusions his mind was rushing to, a tiny seed of doubt had been planted and gotten stuck in his head as the Yellow cab hurried through the empty streets.

~o~

When Sirius awoke the following morning he did not know why he felt so disheartened at first, then the memories of last night came back. The bar, the Scotch, the girl – and Peter. Sirius shook his head at the thoughts. This simply wasn't possible. It must have been someone else. He was sure of it. He had been drinking, it had been late and Sirius probably would have been half asleep.

He decided to end his ridiculous thoughts and shower. Fresh water always cleared his head and soothed his mind. He resolved not to dwell on it. _It couldn't have been Peter. It wasn't Peter. Period._

Midday had past once he exited his bathroom completely dressed. As Sirius had anticipated yesterday he would not be buying the magical equipment today, if he wanted to be on time for work. Not that he cared much about that, but still, he had to maintain appearances. After devouring a quickly summoned bowl of cereal, Sirius flooed to the ministry. Security had been tightened after the last attacks which meant that now even the Aurors had to be thoroughly checked. Sirius did not mind however, if anything the ministry should have thought of stricter security rules beforehand. If they had, the Prewett brothers might still be alive, he mused.

Entering the Auror office was never pretty. With the war raging and rapidly spiralling out of control, the Auror headquarters was usually a place full of chaos and hectic rush. Therefore, Sirius was rather surprised to find it mostly empty. Two colleagues sat at their desks, heads buried deep in piles of paperwork, but everyone else was not around, except for his boss Berenice Dobbs and, unfortunately, _her_ superior, Bartemius Crouch.

"Morning boss", Sirius greeted jovially, before turning to Crouch with a respectful nod, "Sir."

Crouch responded nodding silently. Sirius briefly marvelled at Crouch's ability to do everything with just this slight hint of disapproval as soon as it involved Sirius. Sirius hated Crouch's guts. Not only was he a power-hungry politician, but he was the one who had tried to derail Sirius' ambition to become an Auror. He had effectively forbidden him from entering the Auror forces after his Hogwarts graduation and had forced Sirius to join the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol where he had to undergo a much less demanding training. He had resented Crouch for preventing him from following his goal and for holding his family's quite public support for the Dark Lord against him, effectively punishing Sirius for his genetics instead of believing in his choices. But fortunately there had been others who had believed in Sirius, even after rumours about his dead brother being a Death Eater reached Crouch's ears. Thanks to Dumbledore's and Moody's advocacy, after the first year of training Sirius had been allowed to take a test determining whether he would qualify as an Auror. He had passed it with flying colours and has been since then a part of their training team. He'd graduated top of his class only last June, receiving his Auror certificate from a less than amused Crouch. Sirius really hated his guts, but he was not stupid enough to show it, if he didn't want Crouch to stonewall each and every one of his missions.

"So, what happened, boss? Where is everyone?", Sirius asked Berenice, ignoring Crouch's intense gaze.

"Diagon Alley", she answered, "an attack has occurred there in the early morning. The Raumer family has been found dead."

"The potion shop owners?", Sirius inquired.

"Yes. Both parents were Muggelborns. They're dead, just as their children."

Sirius froze. He tried not to think about Lily and James, but hearing that an entire family had been annihilated made it difficult. He was very well aware that Voldemort was working to achieve the same goal with his friends.

"Was it an initiation?", Sirius asked darkly und Berenice nodded.

"We do believe so. The children showed signs of the Cruciatus curse, but we will know for sure once the Mungo finishes its report."

"Shall I go and help the others then?", Sirius asked.

"I don't believe this will be necessary, Mr. Black", Crouch interjected, "your colleagues are already in Diagon Alley conducting the investigation. As you may see, this office is understaffed right now, I would strongly prefer you to stayed put."

Berenice nodded solemnly.

"Stay here. There is nothing we can do anyway."

"As you say", he responded and moved to his desk, while Crouch was accompanying Berenice to his office, undoubtedly to further inquire about the circumstances of the attack.

"Boss, wait!"

Berenice's head reappeared in the doorframe.

"What is it, Black?", she asked impatiently.

"I just wanted to know... do we have an estimate on when the attack occurred?"

Berenice frowned.

"Must have been around four or five in the morning. But as I said, we'll know more once the healers have examined the bodies."

And without waiting for him to respond, she rushed down the corridor following her superior.

Sirius grimaced. His mind was putting things together against his will; stupid suspicions which were unfounded. _They had to be unfounded_! But the problem was, he knew for a fact that a church clock had been striking four o'clock when he had deposited Christine at her place in Camberwell, which was a twenty minute drive from the Leaky Cauldron. Thus, from where his incredibly stupid mind told him he had seen Peter. And now there has been a Death Eater attack which certainly looked like an initiation ritual. Sirius groaned and sat down at his desk. It looked like this would be going to be a long, long day.

~o~

It had been a long day indeed. But if Sirius had to summarise it in a few words, they would have been 'what if'. He didn't want to follow his string of thoughts, but still the question 'what if it was Peter?' rummaged continuously through his head.

 _What if? What if? What if?_

At work he had been seriously distracted, but no one even noticed since everyone fussed over the recent attack, and rightly so. With Sirius not having been at the scene of the murder, he wasn't able to contribute much. He had however spoken to some of his colleagues who had been there and they had confirmed the suspicions that a new Death Eater had joined Lord Voldemort's ranks. The enemies seemed to increase by the day, whereas their allies thinned out, either dying or fleeing the country. Sirius thought of how hard the Order had been hit in the last few months, with the Prewetts, Edgar Bones, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas, Benjin and Caradoc all dead within the last year. Every time Sirius thought about his fellow order members, he felt icy water rush through his veins. It could easily have been him, or James or Remus or _Peter._ Anyway, the statistics of recent developments did not bode well for the future. They were on the verge of losing the war and they knew it.

Not long before Sirius' shift was over, the preliminary report from St. Mungo Hospital reached their office, confirming Berenice's suspicions regarding the time of death. The healers determined it to be around five o'clock for the whole family. The report also clearly stated that there were signs of torture on both, the parents and the children. Hurting innocent children was one requirement to be let into Voldemort's inner circle; Dumbledore's spies had confirmed that much. Sirius felt like he wanted to throw up at the thought of torturing three-year-olds. They needed a plan to stop this sick wizard and all his followers from taking over Wizarding Britain and they had to do it quickly.

Nevertheless, the instant Sirius left the Auror office and went home, he didn't think about the brutal murderer and the disappointing lack of evidence at the scene. His mind swirled around another issue. This day had given him quite a lot to think about and even if he didn't want to, Peter was on the forefront of these thoughts...

 _~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~_


	3. Chapter 3 - Suspicions

**Hi guys,**

 **so, the story goes on. This time with a new perspective.**

 **I wanted to thank you for your comments. I am glad that people are interested in this story so far and find it believable. :)**

 **So, without furhter ado.**

 **Enjoy reading.**

 **On the Other side of the Coin – A Draw of Destiny**

 **Chapter 3 – Suspicions**

 **23rd October 1981**

James was tired. Harry had been up all night, crying every few hours. The child was on edge. He seemed to feel his parents' nervousness and their state of mind was transmitted onto him. He felt that something was at odds, but he did not understand what was happening.

Thus, nightmares had started to trouble Harry's sleep and it had been more nights than not that he had slept in his parents' bed. Most of the times this managed to sooth him, but there were nights, just as the last one, when Harry couldn't sleep for more than an hour before starting to twist and turn, then waking up screaming and crying.

James had decided to move to Harry's room for the night. He'd cradled Harry in his nursery, spending hours in the rocking chair trying to get his son to sleep. This way, at least Lily had gotten a handful of sleep and it was imperative that she got her rest. Lily was putting all of her energy and attention into studying the fidelius charm. She'd always been better at charms than James and now the task of performing said charm had fallen on her. He trusted his wife to be able to cast the very complex charm that would hide their little family from Voldemort.

James hadn't been eager to change Secret Keeper, when Sirius had proposed to do so. He had complete faith in Sirius, but as his best mate had explained, it might be better to use the ruse he had come put with. His family would be doubly safe as Sirius had laid out. Even if the Dark Lord would be able to capture Sirius and break through his defences, it would take him time to then track down Peter as well and torture the secret out of him. James und Lily would know if something went wrong and they would move if they didn't receive a Patronus message from Sirius every three days. In this case, they would go straight to Dumbledore hiding under his protection. Sirius had made that abundantly clear:

" _Go straight to Hogwarts. Do not look for me. Do not search for me. Just go to Hogwarts. Dumbledore is the only one able to protect you if push comes to shove",_ Sirius had said.

This way they would be safe. The plan was fool-proof.

James needed to tell himself that much. He looked at the sleeping form of his son in his arms. Harry had finally started to be exhausted from having cried all night and was now snoozing in this dad's embrace. James rested on the sofa and was quietly contemplating his wife who sat at the desk bend over the old charms books that Dumbledore had provided. James smiled.

They'd be safe soon. Lily had told him at lunch that she was confident to be able to cast the spell correctly. They had agreed to contact Sirius and Peter tonight and inform them that they could perform the spell tomorrow. They were just waiting till eight when Sirius' shift at the ministry would be over and in the meantime Lily was triple-checking the instructions.

Therefore, James war very surprised to find Sirius knocking on his door in the middle of the afternoon.

"Padfoot, we didn' expe- who died?", he said as soon as he saw the grim look on Sirius' face.

"What? No one died. At least no one we know."

"So, aren't you supposed to at work?"

"I called in sick, okay? Will you let me through now?"

"Yeah, sure, Mr. Grumpy", James said and stepped aside to allow Sirius entry. With one last careful look down the street, James closed the door and drew his wand with his right hand, pressing Harry tightly with his left arm against his chest. James muttered a few protective spells and then turned around and followed his best friend into the living room. It was a beautiful room, with a cosy wine-red sofa, an antique fireplace and a few dolls sprawled on the carpet. Sirius was standing in the middle of it, trying very hard not to pace. James could tell that he was nervous, because he knew whenever Sirius moved like a seesaw from one foot to the other, something was going on.

"She's under, isn't she?", Sirius said nodding towards Lily, who was still sitting at her desk next to the small bookshelf, oblivious to their new visitor.

James smiled whilst looking at his wife.

"Completely under. But it was worth it. She figured it out, Padfoot. Lily is certain she can cast the fidelius, as soon as tomorrow if Wormtail is free to come."

Sirius drew a deep breath, but stayed silent.

"So, what has happened? You look distressed", James said groaning whilst sitting down on the sofa. Harry was starting to get quite heavy.

"I... I need to talk to you. Both of you", Sirius said. James gave him an investigative look, but raised his wand without further comment and pointed it at Lily.

"Hey, darling, would you mind a break?" he asked. Lily's head jerked up.

"James, I told you I have to repea- oh Sirius, it's you", she realised and smiled, obviously pleased with his presence, "I didn't hear you come in."

"No wonder, with your silencing charms activated", James laughed.

"True", Lily conceded, "James didn't tell me that you were supposed to visit, Padfoot."

"I wasn't."

Lily met his gaze and frowned.

"What's happened?"

"Nothing really. Not yet. Anyway, I... I need to talk to you."

"Oh, okay. What do you want us to talk about then?", Lily asked as she sat down next to her husband. Sirius watched as she stroked her sleeping son's messy black hair, before she turned to face him.

"So, what do you want to tell us?", James asked, looking at his best friend, who was still observing his godson.

Sirius shifted uncomfortably. He didn't _want_ to share his half-baked idea... no, really it was more of a deceitful suspicion... a mistake! It was definitely an incredibly stupid mistake of thinking that Peter could be anything but loyal to his friends. He didn't want to tell James that maybe, _just maybe_ , Wormtail had turned on them, but looking at his best friend sitting there next to his wife and holding his sleeping godson in their arms, Sirius knew that he _had to_ tell them, even if he did not _want_ to destroy a friendship. He had to, just on the off-chance that it really was true. _They had to know._

"Listen... so I... er..."

"Mate, what's up?", James said, interrupting Sirius' mumbling, "just talk to us."

Lily looked at him attentively.

"Has someone died?"

Sirius exhaled. Maybe it was better this way, start with the hard facts.

"There has been an attack, yes. No one we know however. It was yesterday. In the early morning hours an unknown group of Death Eaters entered Diagon Alley. They attacked a family of Muggelborns, parents and children are dead."

"Why?"

"The Auror department believes it to have been an initiation", Sirius clarified and Lily's expression grew dark.

"The children?", she asked and Sirius nodded.

"Bloody bastards...", James muttered under his breath, "do you have any leads?"

Sirius shook his head.

"Only wild guesses", he whispered, "and I don't believe we will ever find the ones responsible."

Lily and James nodded slowly. They had gotten used to this. Terrible crimes and murders were committed, but most of them never saw any justice. It was disheartening.

"Um, okay. So, what else do you need to get off your chest?"

"Well, I...er... I was at a bar and-"

Lily's eyebrows shot up.

"Are you really going to tell about your drinking?"

"Wa- no! This is not about my drinking. It is about me drinking."

"Right. Huge difference", Lily retorted jokingly, but James stopped her from continuing further.

"It's serious, isn't it?", he asked, carefully watching his best mate. If the shadows around Sirius` eyes were any indication, he hadn't slept at all last night. His hair looked dishevelled, which was a very unusual for Sirius Black. But the clue that gave him away the most, were his eyes. They were unsteady, jumping from one object to another, only to lose focus an instant later. He was searching for something to hold on to and his mind was racing.

"Well, promise me you will listen to everything I have to say, before you judge me, okay?"

James and Lily nodded instantly.

"All right, so, er, I was at that bar in Muggellondon and had a drink. Actually I already wanted to go home but, you know, I thought it would be one of my last days out in the open, so I flipped a coin and it told me to stay. I had another drink and was almost ready to head home again, when a young woman sat down next to me. We started talking and flirting and it got late. So I decided to see her home."

"God, Sirius have you gotten her pregnant or what?", Lily asked.

"What? No, no, no such thing. Not at all. I just wanted to get her home safely. That's it. Was too tired for anything else, too. So, listen, we sat in the taxi. You two know the rule 'need to get a muggle home, do it the muggle way'. I don't know what route the driver took, however we passed the streets near the Leaky Cauldron and then I saw... no I, I just _thought_ I saw..."

Sirius interrupted himself and looked up.

"What was it?", James asked, perched on the edge of the couch.

Sirius began to pace back and forth between fireplace and the bookshelf. He did not know how to tell this.

"I am almost sure it wasn't... but if, if it was, then you need to know. But I really don't believe it. I was tired and probably drunk and I really don't want to make a fuss. But on the other hand, if..."

"Just spill it, Sirius. You`re frightening me!", Lily cried.

Sirius met James' gaze and whispered: "Forgive me."

Then he closed his eyes and said hastily: "It was Peter. I saw Peter."

A moment of silence followed, in which Lily blinked few times and James stared at Sirius, puzzled.

"So, that's it? You saw Wormtail in London? That's all of it?" He sounded almost disappointed, as if he was imagining a much more interesting revelation.

Sirius forced himself to stand still and explain further, but before he could control himself, Lily had already opened her mouth.

"Peter is ill", she said calmly.

"I know", Sirius agreed, "but I still believe that I saw him."

Lily squinted, looking at Sirius intensely.

"I saw him at four o'clock walking by himself in a street near the Leaky Cauldron. We know for a fact that an hour later, a group of Death Eaters completed an attack that damn well looks like an initiation ritual in Diagon Alley", Sirius steeled himself for the next sentence he would have to utter, "all of this happened only one day after you telling Peter to be your Secret Keeper."

"PADFOOT, WHAT IN MERLINS NAME ARE YOU SUGGESTING?!"

Sirius stumbled a few feet backwards. James had jumped right off the couch, his voice angry and face flushed red.

"I'm not suggesting anything I just-", but James' glare made him shut up.

"He is our friend!", James spat, "he'd never work for that psychopath of a wizard!"

"I know."

"Then, why are you saying stuff like this, I ask?!"

"James, keep it down! Harry's sleeping!", Lily hissed.

James took a deep breath and steadied himself.

"Okay, fine. So, Sirius, why in Merlin's name do you even think of this?"

"I, I don't really know, Prongs. It's just... I saw what I saw and I know it's impossible, but what if... I mean... you know... _what if?"_

With his last words Sirius shot Lily and Harry a meaningful look.

"We know that there is a spy amongst our ranks", Sirius said pleadingly, when James continued to glare at him.

"I don't believe it! Not for one second!", declared James and flopped back down on the couch with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He reminded Sirius of his younger self. The image of an eleven year old James, sitting down on his bed and throwing a tantrum after McGonagall had given him detentions crossed his mind, but the James then had been angry with the head of Gryffindor. The James in front of him, however, looked at Sirius as if he had betrayed him. "You have to have seen something else. A mix-up maybe?"

"Maybe", Sirius conceded tentatively, clearly subdued.

Uncomfortable silence followed, only interrupted by the crackling fire. Sirius looked at James. His face was hard, showing disbelieve. Lily however seemed more thoughtful and when she spoke Sirius could hear the hint of fear in her voice.

"But you're sure, you've seen him, aren't you?", Lily asked perceptively, whilst putting a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Quite."

"That's impossible", James intervened. He sounded annoyed, but Lily continued her interrogation.

"But Peter was supposed to be home, sick with the flu?"

"He was. And I know for a fact that he had called in sick that day. Maybe he was just taking a midnight stroll, some fresh air and all that. Maybe I was wrong and I haven't seen him at all, but I need to be sure. _You_ need to be sure. Please", Sirius added beseeching them.

"Are you really implying what I think you are?", James asked.

"See, Prongs, I know it sounds unbelievable and trust me I don't even want to think that, but... I have this small lingering doubt and if it turns out to be false, then I will spend the rest of my life having to make amends and apologise to Peter, but I think we ought to know for sure."

"It may very well be nothing", Lily agreed, glancing towards her husband. James shook his head.

"This is madness!"

"Hopefully it is", Sirius said in a low tone. He was starting to feel guilty to have bothered James with these thoughts, before having investigated them.

"I agree with Sirius. It could be nothing and if it is, we'll never speak of it again. However, we need to know for sure. Harry's life depends on us keeping him safe", Lily said.

James looked at his wife. She was calm, but Sirius' observations troubled her deeply. James took a deep breath and scurried nearer. At this movement Harry squirmed a bit, though he continued to sleep. James looked down at his son. He was sure these accusations were false, but Lily was right. He'd do everything to keep his son from harm. He'd only never imagined that this would entail doubting a friend's loyalty.

"Okay, so let's say this... _theory_ of yours was true. How do we go about this? Because I am not asking Peter if he has just murdered an innocent family - because he didn't!", James added pointedly.

"Well, Dumbledore has tried to lure the spy out", Lily thought loudly.

"He has?", Sirius inquired, "when? How?"

Lily and James shared a look, then James sighed.

"Look, he just told us a few weeks ago. We weren't even supposed to tell you that there is someone leaking information."

"Well, that bit is quite obvious, don't you think? With all the Order members getting slaughtered, there has to be someone who flipped on us", Sirius grumbled.

"Right, but Dumbledore tried to find out who it was. He never gave all of us the information regarding a new plan and sometimes even spread false information amongst some members. This way he tried to narrow down who the spy is. However, it did not work so well."

"Of course it didn't. First rule of spying, never use all the information the spy provides you with. Otherwise it is too easy for the other side to guess the spy's identity. Every auror knows this and certainly Voldemort is smart enough to figure it out as well."

"He is", Lily agreed, "but how are we now supposed to ascertain whether Wormy is..."

She trailed off, not wanting to put the thought into words.

"First of all, we need a little more time. Don't tell anyone that you're ready to perform the fidelius charm, Lily. Say you'll just need a few more days. Dumbledore's wards around the house have held up so far, they will for another two days."

It was true. Ever since Dumbledore had learned that Voldemort believed Harry to be the prophesised child, he had helped them. Powerful wards had been erected around the cottage in Godric's Hollow by the headmaster himself, Lily and James. They would not withstand an attack by Voldemort for long, but for long enough to ensure that James, Lily and Harry could escape. Their home has been littered with Portkeys which would activate with a codeword and transport them to places that only them or Dumbledore knew of. The headmaster had insisted that no one else should know, not even the other Marauders. However Sirius was aware that sparewands had been placed at those locations, since he had been the one to accompany James to purchase them. Moreover, Dumbledore would instantly know if the wards around the house were attacked. He personally had keyed them his way. It meant that he'd have to come by and renew the charm every few days, but he did so without bother. This fact, combined with the Order member patrolling the nearby streets on irregular schedules known only to Dumbeldore personally made it quite impossible for the Dark Lord to get hold of the Potters. If he attacked now, they would most certainly escape unharmed.

All in all the tight security net had, so far, held Voldemort at bay, but with him you'd never know, which was why Dumbledore had suggested to seal the deal using the fidelius charm.

"What do you think, James?", Lily asked, "the wards have kept us safe for over a year. A few days more should be fine, shouldn't they?"

James tilted his head.

"I'd feel even safer if we had the fidelius charm, but if you two insist..."

"I do, James", Sirius stated, "I'll apologise for ever, if I am completely wrong about this – which I probably am – but still..."

"I'll feel safer, once we have cleared all of this up", Lily added in a soft voice. James looked at his wife, worry shining in her bright green eyes. He took her hand in his.

"We will", he told her, "we will darling. It's nothing. I'm sure of it."

Sirius bowed his head. He was putting his friends through a lot of stress and he didn't intend to upset them, but in the end it all led to the same conclusion – _just be safe._

 _~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~_


	4. Chapter 4 - Truth be told

Hi everyone,

I am happy that you seem to like this story so far. With this chapter, the plot starts to develop a little further. Also, I wanted to tell you to have a look at and consider the dates I list here. It might be useful for the next few chapters, since the events won't exactly be in chronological order.

Lastly, thanks to everyone for the reviews. If you spot errors or have other criticism or advice on how to improve my writing, I'm always just a review away.

:)

 **Chapter 4 – Truth be told**

 **25th** **October 1981 – Hogwarts**

Golden sunrays illuminated the Hogwarts grounds, touching the red and orange treetops of the Forbidden Forest making its bright colours sparkle. It had been a splendid autumn day and almost seemed as if the weather tried to will the students and teachers to forget the dark cloud which was looming over Wizarding Britain. No one, however, could forget, especially not Albus Dumbledore. He had passed the day sitting in his office, trying to devise a way to win this war, which was so rapidly spiralling out of control. Severus Snape had a key role in his plans, but none of them convinced him quite enough and Albus wasn't to risk his most valuable asset for a plan that would probably fail. Unfortunately, it seemed that right now he was only able to come up with ideas that practically screamed 'failing!'.

The last years had been arduous. The growing threat he was fighting against seemed to never relent. In the beginning, Albus had tried to battle Tom Riddle directly, but his former student had been too afraid of him to stand his ground. Instead, he had fled and avoided any confrontation. He had preferred to build his army in the shadows, securing the support of ancient and influential wizarding families, capitalising on century-old resentments and threatening good people into doing his bidding. Tom Riddle had been meticulous in planning his uprising, strategic, secretive and deadly.

Sometimes Albus Dumbledore had to convince himself that all of this wasn't his fault. How could he have known? Should he have known what would become of the mysterious young boy he had met in the orphanage? He had never trusted him. That was a fact, but imagining the future that had lain ahead for an eleven year old Tom Marvolo Riddle... even if Albus should have known, he hadn't. Instead of preventing him from ever entering the wizarding world, Albus had been teaching the boy transformation - oftentimes torn between amazement at his magical abilities and horror at his sheer lack of compassion and humanity. He had never seen the boy laugh, not a healthy, true laughter anyway.

But, despite his nagging doubts, he had taught Tom Riddle, who many years later would grow to terrorise Britain under the mask of Lord Voldemort. Initially, Albus had thought that this would be his second fight for the light; another way to make amends for what he had done to his little sister Ariana so many years ago. He would even have welcomed the chance to save lives, make it right, at least a bit of it. He'd done it with Gellert, the man he had once loved. Albus had confronted him and won, becoming the owner of the Elder wand in the process and condemning his love to a life in Numengrad. Albus glanced at James' Invisibility cloak which was laying on his desk and sighed.

He had defeated Gellert, for Ariana, for his parents and his brother, for himself and for the world. And Albus Dumbledore knew that he would have been ready to do the same again, should the need arise. But the raging war had shown him so much – this wasn't his fight, not till the very end at least. He had long suspected that it wasn't his destiny to be the downfall of his former pupil. In spite of everything he had done, in spite of all this plans and best efforts, Tom Riddle had continued to gaining strength and wreaking havoc onto their world. Oh, Albus knew that he had derailed him in his feat, but in the end it was nothing more than just slowing Tom down. Without Albus' help, wizarding Britain would have long been in the dark side's hands, but he hadn't been able to stop the threat completely and he had known for quite some time that he would not be able to do so – not fully on his own.

Confirmation of this theory had been given in the oddest of ways. During a cold spring night a prophecy had been uttered about a boy who would be the only key to rid this world of Lord Voldemort. Albus knew that prophecies were a tricky thing, but this one seemed to be self-fulfilling and had, right at the moment of its birth from the lips of Sybill Trelawney, begun its journey towards realisation. It had reached Voldemort's ears within hours and set in motion an interesting series of events, ending with a highly placed Death Eater defecting and, unfortunately, Lord Voldemort hunting for the boy and his family. Naturally, Albus had ensured the Potter family's safety as well as he could. It was imperative the boy remained unharmed. Not only felt he responsible for the child, reminding him a bit of the duty he had been given with Ariana, but he knew that his role in this war would be to keep Harry Potter safe, giving him the chance to grow up and train to become the one to finally defeat Tom Riddle.

It was almost comical that just through his existence Harry had already changed so much. He had provided Albus with a valuable spy high up in Lord Voldemorts ranks - something he had never been able to achieve on his own. Yes, Albus knew the boy would play a role in destroying Tom and restoring peace, but he wondered how he would do it. The child was magical, of that he was sure. But whether he had been gifted with extraordinary magical abilities, he could not tell. It was far too early for sensing anything else than just a vague hint of magic around the boy. Whatever it was that made Harry so special, Albus had sworn to do everything in his power to keep the boy from harm until he was old enough.

Therefore it came as quite a shock to Albus, when a glowing, blue light appeared in the middle of his office. Knowing full well that the only portkeys transporting directly into his office, had been placed in the Potter home, securing an escape route in case of attack, Albus jumped off his seat, wand ready. Something had to have happened, he thought, just as two adults fell onto his floor.

~o~

"Ouch!"

"Move!"

"I repeat it. OUCH!"

A second blue light appeared and James looked up from the floor onto which his face was currently glued, just to see the shape of his wife take form within the light. The blink of an eye later, Lily Potter stood there, in full flesh, looking slightly concerned, but with Harry safely in her arms.

"Professor", she said before turning her gaze around, searching for her husband, "I thought James was to be here, with Sirius?"

"I believe they are currently occupied roaming the floor of my office. An activity much more suited for the little Mr. Potter instead of his father, I believe", Dumbledore responded, sliding his wand back into his robes.

James could hear the slight hint of amusement in the headmaster's voice, but he was too concerned with his wife looking down at him and her mouth twitching.

"Oh, don't even start with it", James groaned, "it wasn't my fault this time."

"Sure, darling", Lily said, as she turned to Sirius, "would you kindly remove your backside from James' head?," she grinned.

"Yeah, move that butt!", James cried and tried to wriggle himself free.

It took them a few trials to loosen their entanglement, but finally James and Sirius succeeded.

"It's a real mystery how you manage to end up like this every single time", Lily said sitting down on the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk to which the headmaster had gently pointed her. James did not respond since he was busy adjusting his robes, but he saw her shaking her head.

"May I inquire about the reason for this impromptu visit?", Dumbledore said, after James and Sirius had taken their place standing behind Lily. His eyes settle upon Harry, who was fidgeting in this mother's arms, tying to get hold of the toy bunny she had in her hands. "I believe I have been very clear about circumstances regarding the use of those portkeys."

He nodded towards the bunny in Lily's hand and the handkerchief James was holding. Both of them immediately placed the items on the headmaster`s desk.

"You have, Professor", James said respectfully.

"Then, since I do not believe this to be a social visit, may I ask what has happened that you thought you needed to activate them? Has there been any suspicious activity around the house?"

"No, there has not, but we needed a way to talk to you without anyone noticing."

Dumbledore said nothing, but he bowed his head slightly to bid them continue.

"Well, we... er... see...", James began, but then trailed off.

Fortunately, Lily straightened herself and absolved James from continuing further.

"We heed your advice on the matter of our security and now we need you to consider new information we might have" Lily spoke calmly, but Dumbledore frowned nonetheless. He seemed to realise the import of what was to come.

"Whatever you want to share, I'll be glad to tell you my considerations regarding the matter at hand", he said and Lily turned around to share a look with Sirius and James before continuing. Both of the men seemed at a loss of words and she understood them well. Voicing suspicions regarding a close friend with your best mate was entirely different than to come forward to an authority figure.

"We're unsure as to what to make of it ourselves, but Sirius, well all of us in fact, thought it best to ask for your help."

Dumbledore nodded slightly, but did not interrupt her. His gaze was now completely fixed upon Lily. Drawing deep breath, she continued.

"Sirius thinks to have seen a friend a few nights ago, only in the dark. It was near Diagon Alley and it was the night of the murder. Certainly you have heard about the Raumers? The family Death Eaters killed in what seems to have been an initiation ritual?" The dark expression on Dumbeldore's face was all the answer Lily needed. "We don't know for sure, and it probably is a complete coincidence or it might not have been him, but the friend Sirius thinks he saw happened to be in the area only one hour before the estimated time of the murder. The problem is, we know with certainty that this particular friend should have been in bed, sick with the flu. He told Sirius that much, but in the last two days, even though he had called in sick at work, he has not been at his apartment at night. "

"And how can you be sure about his absence?"

"James and I went to check on him", Sirius said, "three times each night the hominem-revelio-charm showed an empty apartment."

"Interesting", mumbled Dumbledore and started to pace back and forth behind his desk. James, Lily and Sirius watched the headmaster carefully and no one said a word. In the meanwhile Harry grew impatient, wiggling in this mother's lap, trying to get his hands on the bunny which lay atop the desk in front of him. Lily let him have it. She was too concerned with what Dumbledore would say, but as the minutes passed and he still seemed deep in thought, Lily raised her voice and asked the dreaded question:

"So, Professor, what do you think of this?"

Dumbledore stopped and turned around to face the three pale adults.

"How sure are you to indeed have seen Mr. Pettigrew, Sirius?", he asked, his eyes piercing into Sirius's.

"Ho-how did you-?"

A weak smile appeared on Dumbledore's face.

"Oh, the gift of deduction, my boy", he explained, "it could hardly have been Mr. Lupin since he is away on a mission I sent him to and he is not steadily employed. Mr. Pettigrew on the other hand is. And I don't see you being this afraid and hesitant at the same time, if it were not one of your closest confidants whose loyalty you were questioning. As for Lily's friends, I believe it to be a male friend since you referred to a certain "him". But even if it wasn't, I know that I have been Miss Leroy in the Ministry just earlier today and your other best friend, Lily, is abroad. Or has Miss Ollivander returned without me noticing?"

Lily shook her head and Dumbledore nodded.

"Mr. Pettigrew then. Well, Sirius, how certain are you about having seen him?"

"Fairly positive, Sir."

"And you and James have double-checked his home?"

Both of them nodded and the headmaster frowned again.

"Is it possible someone may have predicted you passing the streets the night you believe to have seen Mr. Pettigrew, Sirius?"

"No, I don't see how this would have been possible. It was by pure chance that I was there. If it wasn't for coin toss, I'd been in bed asleep."

Dumbledore's eyebrows raised and Sirius elaborated further.

"I was to go home, but by chance I stayed around making an acquaintance. I was on my way accompanying her home when I saw Peter. Or at least, I believe to have seen him."

"What acquaintance?", Dumbledore asked, his voice full of mistrust.

"A muggle. No ties to the magical community or whatsoever."

Again, silence reined and only Harry's smacking noises could be heard, whilst he was snuggling with his toy bunny. Lily sat there mute and waiting, feeling the grip of James` hand on her shoulder.

"So, what do you think, Professor? Are we overreacting?", James asked and the whiff of hope in this voice made Lily chill. She had her eyes fixed upon Dumbledore's face, as she tried to read it, but the fact that they had just now accused one of their closest friends of unspeakable crimes, made her feel cold inside. However, this was nothing compared to the deadly iciness she felt, as Dumbledore sighed, raised his gaze very slowly and said: "I don't believe you are, Mr. Potter. This issue definitely warrants further examination. I fear, it may be very serious indeed."

~o~

 **27th** **October 1981 – Godric's Hollow**

"Are you okay?"

James looked up to his wife, who was watching him attentively. She stood next to the counter in the colourful kitchen which now seemed nothing but gloomy and dark.

"No. You?", he asked in a low tone.

Lily didn't answer, but James saw that she was concerned. The mild frown on her forehead gave it away just as much as her eyes did. They appeared dull and did not shine in their usually bright green, though she smiled sadly at James and softly brushed with her fingertips along his cheek in a futile attempt to lighten his mood.

"It'll be fine. All will go well and Peter will be exonerated soon", she whispered, trying very hard to ban the doubtfulness from her voice. James didn't even have enough time to force himself to produce a smile, or at least something similar, since Lily already turned her head around and glanced towards the living room, Harry's giggles making her smile warily.

James took her hand and pressed it tightly. She sighed at this small gesture.

"Go", James whispered, "Go to him. I'll be there in a moment."

He met her eye and Lily tilted her head looking at him, then gave him a soft kiss on the head and left without a word. James observed her while she hurried towards the other room. She had been on edge during the last days and had never let Harry out of her sight. She only did it now, because Sirius was with him, but Lily's motherly instincts told her that something bad was coming and that made her uneasy, twitchy and dithery. James closed his eyes. He felt guilty that it was her who had to comfort him, when it should be the other way around, but Sirius' suspicions against Peter had drained James' energy, a constant battle going on in his head between his heart telling him that he had to trust his friends and the nagging doubt regarding Peter's loyalty.

Forcefully, James stood up and left the kitchen. He'd be there for his wife and son, whatever came, and overthinking the whole issue would only make him go out of his mind. The living room was a welcome chance,much brighter place than the gloomy kitchen and filled with his son's laughter, it lifted James' spirits. Lily sat on the couch, her head flipping back and forth between Harry and the window. Harry instead was sitting on the carpet, having the time of his life playing with Sirius, who motioned his wand to make Harry's stuffed animals jump around and dance. Harry started to giggle like crazy, when Sirius made the teddy bear tickle him. He cried out in joy, falling backwards onto the soft carpet and trying to get the bear off of himself. Needless to say, Sirius wasn't going to make it easy, but he was at least adult enough to give Harry a few moments to catch his breath now and then, otherwise Lily might have skinned him alive.

The happy scene was interrupted when a vermilion flame flashed in the middle of the room. A second later, Albus Dumbledore stood where the flame had been before. Next to him flew his phoenix Fawkes.

"Professor!"

Agitated, Lily jumped off the couch and rushed towards her guest and thanks to Sirius' momentary distraction Harry succeeded in removing the tickling bear from his chest. He threw him across the room and then Harry rested on the carpet painting heavily with his hair messy, but a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Lily, James", Dumbledore nodded and then smiled as he saw Sirius and Harry laying on the floor, surrounded by stuffed animals, "am I to guess that you are rather enjoying yourself, Sirius?"

"Of course, Professor", he replied, sitting up. Harry followed suit and tilted his head looking at the strange, old man next to him. He looked unsure as to whether he remembered him or not.

"Hello Harry", Dumbledore said, crouching down in front of the little man, whilst Flakes landed on his shoulder.

Harry's eyes went wide the second he saw the red-golden animal.

"Birdi", he cried out and pointed at Fawkes, much more interested in the animal than in the famous wizard right in front of him. His son's utter lack of appreciation for the renown wizard made James chuckle, but then again, how was Harry to comprehend who Dumbledore was? He was only 15 months old after all.

Without hesitation Harry made three quick steps forward. During the last weeks he had become sure-footed and was now so fast that Lily and James had to constantly keep an eye on him as not to lose him inside the house. Harry halted next to Dumbledore's side, eying Fawkes on his shoulder in awe. The phoenix towered over him, but that did not seem to deter Harry, who reached for the bird and began to stroke his feathers. The adults watched in amazement as the phoenix closed his shiny eyes, seemingly enjoying Harry's touch. Dumbledore waited few seconds for Harry to caress the phoenix and then stood up.

"No, birdi!", Harry demanded as he wasn't able to reach Fawkes anymore.

"Fawkes seems to like you. Next time I visit, I'll bring him along if he wishes to come", then with a gleeful smile he added, "more time for birdi and you to get acquainted if you like." He nodded to the phoenix on his shoulder, which looked down at Harry and opened his beak. A warm tone sounded through the room, whilst the bird disappeared in another flash of fire.

"Birdi!", Harry cried, distressed over the phoenix's rash disappearance. Lily immediately stepped forward and enveloped her son in her arms, calming him down.

"Well, I would propose to ready ourselves", Dumbledore said conversationally.

"Er, yes, professor, of course. Would you like to wait in the kitchen until...", James trailed off.

Dumbledore gave him a courteous nod.

"That suits me perfectly well, James. Thank you. And the little Mr. Potter here is staying with Sirius I guess?"

"Yes!", Lily responded and, albeit somewhat reluctantly, handed Harry over to Sirius, "we don't want him anywhere near until we know for sure that it is safe."

"Very understandable." Dumbledore agreed.

"We'll be fine, don't you worry, Lily", Sirius reassured her, "we may pee our pants from all the fun we're going to have, righty Harry? Well you'd be peeing our nappies which I guess makes sense, em?"

He ruffled through Harry`s hair making it even messier than before and went towards the stairs, a long line of plush toys trailing behind them. James waited until they all had disappeared and then accompanied Professor Dumbledore to the kitchen, where he prepared the headmaster a tea.

"You might want to prepare some more of this delicious beverage", Dumbledore said, "oh no, not for me, James, but for the other guest who is to arrive and you might find this additional ingredient useful." He held a vial in his hands, which seemed to be filled with simple water. James gulped. He knew this was no water.

"Isn't it illegal...?"

Dumbledore nodded gravely.

"It is indeed, but I believe that drastic times, call for drastic measures... it is your choice however as to whether you want to resort to it or not. But if I may, my humble advice would be to make use of it. There is nothing good to be destroyed by employing it and if it may hurt than it is rather the fault of the truth instead of anything else."

James eyed the vial suspiciously. He had discussed this with Lily and they had already agreed upon the best course of action, but he did not feel particularly content with this solution. However, he knew they had to do it this way, if he wished to erase every last grain of suspicion and prove everyone else wrong. He cautiously took the vial and proceeded to brew another pot. As soon as he had prepared the tray and carefully spilled a few drops of the vial's content into the Halloween themed cup, he heard Lily's sharp voice calling for him.

"James! He's coming!"

With one last glance at Dumbledore who happily sniffled at his own cup and seemed perfectly at ease, James left the kitchen and hurried to his wife. The doorbell rang.

"Go open it!", Lily instructed him, taking the tray out of his hands, and James obliged.

Once he had arrived at the door, he waited for a heartbeat before opening it, gulping one last time and trying not to look too worried. _This will all turn out for the best, you'll see, Prongs_ , he told himself. Then, he reached for the doorknob and pulled. In front of him stood Peter. His straw-coloured hair lay as even as ever on his head, his blue eyes showed a slightly reddish colouring as if he hadn't slept too much in the last few days - _or_ _he may just have been sick_ , James scolded himself. Meanwhile, Peter smiled nervously at James.

"Hi Prongs."

"Hello Wormtail", James responded and seeing his friend made the smile come more easily to him. Peter _was_ his friend after all and this evening would prove the whole affair Sirius had stirred up wrong and void of any truth. "Please, come in. It's not safe outside, especially at night."

Peter nodded and crossed the threshold to their house.

"How are you?", James asked as he took Peter's wintercloak and led him towards the living room, "feeling better already?"

"Better? Oh, you mean because I had the flu? Yes, yes, thank you, so much better. A few days of rest and some pepper-up-potion and everything is back to normal again. Hello Lily", Peter greeted as they entered the room. James looked thoughtfully at him. He wished very much for everything to become normal again indeed, but in order to do so they had to go through with the plan and pass this evening. James noticed Lily's tight expression, as Peter hugged her, and decided to jump in, before her behaviour could raise any suspicions.

"Tea?", he asked and Peter nodded his head. Whilst he sat down on the armchair and looked around the room, James carefully chose the Halloween teacup, filled it with hot liquid and placed it in front of Peter. In the meantime, Lily looked out of the window, avoiding Peter's gaze, and fumbling with her hair.

"Here, dear", James said, handing her a tea cup which showed a Gryffindor lion on its surface, and stroking over her hand softly, in order to calm her down.

Peter seemed to have noticed this small gesture.

"Is everything all right?", he asked immediately, "where is Harry?"

Lily narrowed her eyes, but James responded quickly: "He's upstairs with Sirius. They're playing I believe, even though he should try to put Harry to sleep."

"Oh okay", Peter shrugged and then looked at his friends again, "so, what did you want to talk about? Why did you summon me?"

"We...we...", Lily muttered and stared at the cup in Peter's hands. He seemed to enjoy the heat, but had not drunken a single sip of tea since he had entered the room. _Has he been instructed not to drink anything, we haven't drunken ourselves?,_ James mused and then immediately scolded himself for this treacherous thought.

Peter had never liked his tea too hot, he was behaving perfectly normal and they were already accusing him of betrayal in their minds.

"We wanted to talk to you regarding the Secret Keeper thing, Wormtail", said James, freeing his wife from having to finish her mumbled sentence, "Lily has done it. She is sure she'll be able to cast the charm. We'll need another two days to repeat everything just to be one hundred percent sure, but then we're good to go. We can do it."

"Tha-that sounds great, James", Peter stuttered, his eyes jumping back and forth between James and Lily. She offered a small smile and then quickly drank some tea.

"I knew you would master it soon, Lily. You've always been so smart, especially with charms. Remember the time you cast the silencio on the whole class instead of just charming your raven?"

James smiled fondly at his wife. He remembered how embarrassed she'd been, but firmly maintained that she just had wanted Sirius and James to shut up talking in the row behind her.

"You know it was James' fault, Wormy", Lily said, before raising her tea cup again. If she continued at that rate, her cup would be empty soon.

Peter said nothing, only looked around the room, seemingly thinking of what to say.

"Er, do you two know where Remus is? I think he might be on an order mission, but I haven't heard anything more concrete..."

He trailed of and shifted slightly in his armchair. James frowned. _Is he prodding for information? Or is he just concerned for a friend?_ Following his intuition, James decided that he'd fill Peter in - at least a bit.

"Yeah, he is on a mission", James sighed and demonstratively took a sip of his own tea, "Sirius has overheard Dumbledore sending him to the werewolves once again."

"Oh, the werewolves? In Britain again? With this Greyback fellow?"

"No, not this time. Greyback is evil. No way we'd ever convince him to change sides, but as far as I know Remus is off to Germany. They have quite the werewolf population over there and might agree to take a few wolves in, if we can get some of them to turn their backs on Voldemort. "

Peter nodded quickly.

"So, Remus is not in the country. Well, that is...", he trailed off, "let's hope that he comes back soon, right?"

"Yes, let's hope so", Lily whispered, glancing towards the steps which led to Harry's room upstairs. They could hear the muffled sound of giggling that came from the second floor.

"Er", James cleared his throat, "back to the matter at hand. We just wanted to be sure that you're okay with being our Secret Keeper. We didn't want to overwhelm you last time and thought, we might ask again, now that you had a few days to consider the issue."

A nervous twich showed on Peter's face, but it was gone within a second. James squinted slightly.

"Are you concerned?", he asked, as Lily's frown deepened.

"I, er, I... no", Peter said, shaking his head forcefully, "I just didn't think you'd change your mind. I thought the plan Sirius' had devised was good... for keeping you safe and all."

"So, you'd be prepared to be our Secret Keeper? We thought about casting the charm the day after tomorrow", James pressed again. He felt guilty for making Peter feel uncomfortable, but at least it had the wished effect. He raised his tea cup and swallowed the beverage, a nice swig of it.

Lily's eyes flashed to James, agitated since Peter had now finally drunken the tea. James could see her straightening and felt himself tense. _This is it!_

"Okay, so, are you going to be our Secret Keeper then?", he asked, leaning forward to glance at Peter's cup. It was almost half-empty now.

"I am", Peter said solemnly and James locked eyes with him, before uttering his next question.

"You're going to keep us safe then, right? You'll protect our secret with your own life?"

Peter blinked. He looked at James with an expression of slight bewilderment and a hint of speechlessness, then he slowly opened his mouth.

"Of course", he said, raising honest smiles on James' and Lily's faces, before he added, "not."

 _~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~_


	5. Chapter 5 - Consequences

**Chapter 5 – Consequences**

 **27th** **October 1981**

" _You're going to keep us safe then, right? You'll protect our secret with your own life?"_

" _Of course not."_

Silence fell as a dark veil onto them. Peter's mouth remained half-open, agape and stupefied. James zeroed in on him, seeing him blink nervously, completely dumbfounded. His movements seemed slower than normal, as if time had begun to thicken and wouldn't flow properly anymore. James was only marginally aware of Lily's whispered "What?". It seemed so far away. His head was almost spinning, not able to fully appreciate what he had just heard.

"Oh my... J-Ja-James, I-I don't know why I just said that!", Peter stuttered, wild panic rising in his voice, "I-I, would never...I don't know why I said that..."

"It is absolutely normal that you have no understanding as to what is happening, Mr. Pettigrew."

Dumbledore had entered the room and even though James felt inebriated from the slowness of his mind elaborating, he distinctly heard the hatred in the headmaster's voice.

But James' eyes were still fixed on Peter, paralysed, as Dumbledore continued, walking into the room: "So, tell me Mr. Pettigrew, are you a Death Eater?"

"Yes."

If it hadn't been Peter's mouth which moved, if he hadn't seen it himself, James might not have believed it. Shock and horror pulsed through his veins as his mind tried to wrap itself around what Peter had just said, what the implications of this simple word were...

"For how long?", Dumbledore asked without hesitation, strolling towards Peter's now shaking form and almost casually stepping between him and the Potters. The coldness he emanated by just standing there, towering over Peter, and twirling his wand around was astonishingly frightening.

"Almost six days. _What's happening_?!", he shrieked, terrified at the hard expression in Dumbledore's face.

"And for how long have been spying on Lily and James, on me and the Order of the Phoenix for Voldemort's benefit?"

Peter shook his head, his eyes swirling around as if he didn't know how he got into this situation. Then, they stopped suddenly, fixing the tea cup in front of him. Comprehension dawned on his sheet-white face, but the potion did his magic all the same.

"No, I..., I don't want to..."

"How long?!", Dumbledore demanded, his angry voice booming in the small room. Beneath him Peter squeezed himself against the back of his armchair, trying to escape the looming revelation. He felt his stomach ache, throat contract. He felt the pain from fighting against the urge to respond, to tell them everything they wanted to now; to tell the truth and be done with it. His every resistance was in vain, since his mind was not strong enough, not nearly as wilful enough as it had ought to be if he wanted to defy the truth potion.

"Over a year", Peter hissed, looking like he rather wanted to bite his tongue off than say the words.

"YOU UNGRATEFUL TRAITOR!", Lily screamed. She sprung from the couch, her face flushed red with anger, pointing her wand at Peter who shook his head.

"Lily, I had no choi-"

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO MY WIFE!"

James had come to life the second Peter's lips had pronounced Lily's name. That scum would have sentenced her to die without so much as batting an eye. Anger boiled hot in James as he rushed past Dumbledore and threw himself at Peter, body-slamming his former friend. He felt his elbows crush against his chest and hoped he might have broken a few of the bastard's rips as they fell onto the floor. James didn't hear his wife's scream, he did not notice Dumbledore's command, the only thing he could think about was the powerful rush of blood in his hears and the overwhelming need to grap Peter's form and slam it into something very hard. But Peter didn't hesitate one second. As James' hands firmly seized his shoulders, he transformed. James lost hold of the shrinking should and as he hit the floor, he could see Wormtail wriggling through the chair's feet and fleeing across the room.

"COME BACK!", James screamed, picking himself up, pure fury taking him over, "COME BACK YOU TREACHEROUS RAT!"

A commotion on the stairs made James jerk around. _Had Peter already reached the second fl_ oor? _Had he harmed Harry?_ James' heartbeat stopped when he saw Sirius' dark face appear on the steps. He held his wand tightly in his left hand, gripping Harry with his right and shielding him with his body.

"What's happen-?", but the words got stuck in Sirius's throat once he saw the living room. He took in Lily's red face, the overthrown armchair, Dumbledore standing in the middle of the room and Sirius understood at once.

"No...", he whispered, almost pained by the thought, but before he could continue or before Lily or James could move an inch, an ugly, high-pitched squeaking resounded.

All heads turned around and James saw, with unbelievable satisfaction that a grey, fat rat flew towards the headmaster. He had his wand outstretched and the expression on his face was scary to say the least. Magic cackled around him and the force he emanated was almost breath-taking – that was if James hadn't had a traitor to scream at.

"How dare you! You spineless bastard! You'd have betrayed us to Voldemort just like that? You – you -..."

He found himself at a loss of words that could even begin to describe the depth of Peter's betrayal.

While James stuttered and quivered with burning fury, trying to find a way to express his feelings, Lily swooshed up the stairs, practically pulling Harry from Sirius' arm and pressing him against her chest.

"Oh, Harry, my baby boy...", she whispered, slightly trembling. Sirius stood next to her, trembling himself, though not from fear as Lily did, but from the thought rushing down on him. He too did not know how to word his thoughts. Peter had really betrayed them. This was the impossible coming true. And if he even thought about how things might have gone if he hadn't happened to see Peter on that fateful night... Sirius cringed, not wanting to continue these thoughts.

Meanwhile Dumbledore summoned, with a flick of his wand, a ball of magical energy encasing Peter's rat form.

"This is a rather interesting develop-"

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!", shouted James suddenly, finally having come to term with how to adequately describe his feelings towards Peter, "do you hear me over your squeaking, Peter? I am going to kill you little worm!"

"I am, too!", Sirius screamed in agreement from top the strairs.

"STOP!", Dumbledore commanded and raised his hand. James who had already drawn his wand, haltered in his tracks.

"Why in Merlin's name-?"

"James, Sirius, stop, "he urged, "I will not allow you to sully yourselves by killing this – being. However terrible his crimes, you do not deserve to suffer from having ended someone's life", Dumbledore said slowly, but with that benevolent determination which only he could muster.

"He-but he was going to sell us out to Voldemort!", James cried desperately.

"He betrayed them- all of us!", Sirius joined, but the headmaster merely shook his head.

"This matter is not up to discussion. Sit. All of you. Now!", he said, then looking at Lily he added in a softer tone, "if you may want to put Harry to bed I understand and we will wait for you."

But Lily shook her head no. She still stood there, next to Sirius, halfway up the stairs, looking somewhat lost and pressing Harry against her chest, as if she feared that he might disappear into thin air the second she let go.

"I will not let him out of my sight", she whispered, stroking Harry's back.

"Mr. Pettigrew will not be able to harm your son, or any of you. I promise you this."

"Thank you, professor", she responded and gripping her wand she descended the stairs, to take a seat between Sirius and James. Both had their wands out and ready as well, pointing them directly at the rat which was floating in mid-air. None of them however dared to defy Dumbledore's order. Chances were high that they wouldn't even be able to hurt Peter inside the blue glowing orb Dumbledore had erected around him. The old man nodded at the three of them in grave acknowledgement of the situation. He glanced at Harry. The boy hadn't made a sound, but now on his mother's lap, he started to squirm in her firm grip.

"I understand your shock and disappointment, but please let me finish my observations."

No one said a word and Dumbledore continued.

"First of all we need to inform the Order and the Aurors that Voldemort seems to train his Death Eaters to animagi."

A loud snort interrupted the headmaster.

"Sirius?"

"That's not Voldemort's deed. That was us!", he growled.

"May I inquire what you mean exactly?"

"That it has been us, me and James, who taught Peter how to become an animagus!"

James nodded, gritting his teeth.

"I see. Well, am I correct then in guessing that you two are animagi as well?"

Both nodded.

"Interesting. And when have you achieved his impressive piece of magic?"

"In school. Fifth year. We did it for Remus."

Dumbledore bowed his head.

"I see... Well that makes everything much more easy."

"Makes what much more easy?", Lily asked.

"You'll see in time. For now, Mr. Pettigrew, ", Dumbledore said turning around to face the rat, "be assured that you're not going to be hurt by any of us."

And with that Dumbledore raised his wand, a red light flashed and the rat Peter fell on the carpet with a soft thud.

 **30th October 1981 – Somewhere in England**

The figure shivered in the gloomy cold, as he knelt before his master. No windows could brighten the darkness of the cellar-like room with the endlessly high ceiling and hard black marble floor. He could almost feel the piercing red eyes in his mind, threatening his consciousness. But he forced himself to stay there, head bowed, awaiting his master's orders. The seconds seemed to stretch into eternity; silence; long icy, terribly threatening silence.

"Look at me."

He immediately followed the command, raising his head and meeting the snake-like, white face which seemed to glow in the dark.

"Are you sure?"

He tried not to blink, not to tremble. Any sign of weakness could mean his end.

"Yes, my Lord."

An evil smiled formed on his master's face. There was no true joy in it, only hatred, vengefulness and bloodlust. A bloodlust as haunting as these demon`s eyes.

"Good. Good. This is very good. You are being useful and Lord Voldemort rewards usefulness."

"Th-thank you, my lord. I wish to serve. I live to-"

But his master cut him off, turning to a slim figure standing in the shadows behind him.

"Bella, my dear", he said whispering, "give the order to postpone our next present. It will be carried out on a later term. We have new interesting developments to consider."

"Of course, my lord. I will. But, my lord, do you wish for me to come with you?"

"No! Leave. Leave me now, Bellatrix, and best carry out the order I just gave you!"

He could hear the slight anger rising in his master's voice and saw Bellatrix immediately bow her head and leave the room. He looked down again, to the unyielding marble surface. His lord wanted to be alone with him, he would test him, he would use him, but he needed to prove useful. He had to survive this war.

After Bellatrix had left and closed the door, slow footsteps resounded, echoing from the stone floor into the nothingness of the room. He knew what was to come and soon enough the shivering figure felt someone stand before him. He felt long, thin fingers touch his shoulder and forced himself to look up into the face of doom.

"Tell me", the low voice commanded, "tell me how to destroy the boy."

"Yes, my lord", he whispered, looking right into Lord Voldemort's blood red eyes, "Yes, my lord."

 **2nd November 1981 – Little Whining**

The sun rose over Privet Drive on this cold autumn morning. As always, the houses stood perfectly aligned with neatly trimmed lawns around them, not even a single haulm out of order. When the door to number four opened, Petunia Dursley expected just another completely normal day. This time in the story of Harry Potter's life, she did not find her nephew on her doorstep. In fact, her doorstep was ever so empty as usual. Petunia put the old milk bottles down and turned back inside. No scream sounded through the morning air as she calmly went back to begin her daily chores. She would never know how much this day could have impacted her life, if the coin had landed on its other side.

 **3rd November 1981 – Diagon Alley**

It was the first day after Halloween in which the shops of Diagon Alley reopened. The owners hoped for a few good trades, as buyer numbers had been declining ever since the war had erupted, but they had reached a bare minimum after the gruesome attacks on the Raumer family. Fear had held costumers away from the shops and the stores were left empty. Luckily, after almost two weeks had passed, during which the alley had been littered with aurors and a heavy presence of the magical law enforcement patrol, the magical community seemed to have regained some grain of confidence. At least today, a few people had come for a quick visit. Given the expression of fear on their faces, it might have been just out of pure necessity though. Many of the shops in the once busy street were abandoned or destroyed. The potion shop "Raumer's really convenient concoctions" had just been the last victim of this development. It suited the old apothecary across the street well. Now at least she was the only one with a renowned name for selling potions in what remained of the once so busy Diagon Alley. She'd already sold five bottles today and a group of new costumers made their way towards her shop. With a wistful smile, the old lady turned away from the window and began to walk to her door. She'd almost made it halfway there, when a powerful explosion shattered her front window and blew the door right out of its frame. Screams rang in her ears, people ran yelling through the streets, as flashes of lights rushed through the air.

"Death Eaters!", a man screamed, scrambling through the rubbish in the streets.

"Move!"

"Aurors to me!", another one yelled, before turning around and being hit by a green light right in his face. He crumbled into the dirt and never moved again.

The old apothecary peaked her head out of her former window and what she saw was unbelievable. The massive Gringotts bank had been split in two. The left part had almost entirely collapsed and the right half was askew, bent and ready to fall. Goblins and wizards alike surged out of the building, stumbling over lifeless bodies which lay on the steps; debris blocking their way. Somewhere between the wreckage lay the heavy door that once had guarded the bank's entrance and a few meters away stood a black wall of cloaked figures wearing disgusting masks, wands outstretched and ready to wreak havoc onto the world. The old apothecary gasped, clutched her chest and felt her heart race _. This is the end_ , she thought, as the Death Eaters began their deadly chant.

 **3rd November 1981 – Somewhere in Scotland**

It was his birthday and Sirius Black was laying in a tiny room not knowing that his Auror colleagues were out there battling Death Eaters and dying to save other people's lives right in this moment. He had gone into hiding a few days ago and neither his boss Berenice, nor her boss, Bartemius Crouch, knew his current location. He sighed deeply and decided to go to the living room to look for some distraction.

 **3rd November 1981 – Godric's Hollow**

Finally his moment had come. After months of preparations, weeks of torturing, intimidating and killing, he finally had all the information he needed to fulfil his destiny. It had been drawn out for him for the very start and he had made his way towards true greatness. Today, he would become truly immortal. Oh, he had waited for him – the one who would dare to challenge him. He had always been ready, prepared and his far-sightedness had brought him victory.

When Lord Voldemort turned the corner in Godric`s Hollow and saw the Potter home clearly in front of him and he felt triumph rush through his veins. Purposefully he strode towards the house, his cloak billowing behind him in the cold wind. He could seem them through the window. The red-headed witch his loyal servant had begged him for her life. Voldemort sneered at her. She was a filthy mudblood, but then again, he did not care for her. Severus should with her as he pleased as long as he remained his loyal servant. Voldemort saw James Potter enter the room. He seemed nervous and whispered something to his wife, who abruptly stood and followed him out of the room. An evil smile crossed Voldemorts's face. The Potter's had left the crib alone in the living room. With a flick oh his wand, he opened the door and entered their house. The distinct feeling of superiority made Voldemort smile. These idiots had just left their oh-so-precious boy alone. This would be ridiculously easy. He may have even resented them for underestimating him, but in the end all he needed was a dead baby Potter. It didn´t matter how it came by, the only thing that mattered was that he would have to do it. He'd eliminate this last threat on his path to an immortal life, on his path dominance over muggles and wizards alike, on his path to unique glory. He entered the living room and felt the magic inside him tingle. Was it the boy who had such strong aura? Or was it something else? Another few steps and he reached the crib, pointing his wand directly at the child he leaned forward, the killing curse on his lips.

"Avada –", Voldemort stopped. He could feel it. His hand outstretched, just few millimetres away from the crib, he had felt it - that small tingling feeling of residue magic. Powerful magic.

He slashed his wand up and turned around as lightning erupted all around him.

~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~

A not too long chapter, but it felt like the right moment to cut it off. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one, despite the waiting.

Next chapter is to be posted in 2 weeks, until them pelase let me know what your take is as to what has just happened. :)


	6. Chapter 6 - Actions

**Hi there,**

 **Quick reminder: Mind the dates.**

 **Not all scenes from the last chapters are in chronological order.**

 **;)**

 **On the Other side of the Coin – A Draw of Destiny**

 **Chapter 6 – Actions**

 **29th** **October 1981 - Godric's Hollow**

"...and you're sure that this is going to work, professor?"

"Only if James can keep it together."

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Sirius! So, just shut it up! Well, professor, is this going to work?", Lily asked again, her concern clearly showing on her face. They were in the Potter cottage and two days had passed since Peter had confessed under the influence of Veritaserum that he had planned to betray them to Voldemort.

"Lily, my dear, there is no reason why this endeavour would not work. Voldemort has recruited Mr. Pettigrew for some time now", the old man`s face darkened bit, but he continued with his voice as calm as ever, "but it is our advantage that he does not know that we have discovered where Mr. Pettigrew's true loyalties lie and we do also know how he will act once he is named Secret Keeper."

James snorted and crossed his arms in front of his chest, slumping back into the couch.

"Yeah, the rat is going to betray us!", he snarled and a few bits of spittle flew across the room, landing on the coffee table.

"He will and we will be prepared for it", Dumbledore agreed solemnly.

"Are you sure he won't remember anything, professor?", Lily questioned, chewing her bottom lip.

"I am. I personally altered his memory from two days ago. I can assure you with the utmost certainty that he has no recollection of our discovery and thus, Voldemort knows not that we have identified the spy amongst ourselves."

Lily seemed unconvinced, but dropped the topic. It would do no good to question the headmaster further.

"Fine, but I don't want Harry anyway near Peter!", she demanded with passion in her voice.

"I understand your wish. However he needs to be present during the ceremony. Otherwise he will not be included in the fidelius charm, which is a circumstance we cannot allow."

"But we're not going to stay here. So why does it matter?!"

"For two reasons. First of all, the very second you complete the charm and Harry will be in the house, but not included, that would make you unable to see or touch him and secondly it would seem odd. If Voldemort decides to control Mr. Pettigrews's memories, once he discloses your location to his master, and I am sure that he will use legilimency to do just that, Voldemort will see the ceremony and if Harry was not present, it would make him more than suspicious."

"You told us that this is a very ancient charm. Almost forgotten, how would he know these specifics?"

Lily too crossed her arms in front of her chest, mimicking her husband.

"He would because Mr. Pettigrew would have told him about your intentions of making him your Secret Keeper. And I am sure that as soon as he told him about the charm, Voldemort will have read up on it. Most likely he is currently as well informed about it as I am."

Lily shook her head, red strains falling left and right.

"I don't like it. James?"

"Me neither", he admitted and sighed, "but I trust Sirius to keep Harry safe."

"I will", Sirius said immediately, "I'll play with him and have my wand ready."

Lily looked at her friend critically, her face still uncertain. She did not like that idea one bit, but she also knew that taking Voldemort down would be an important step in keeping Harry safe. She sighed.

"Make those puffy, coloured clouds with your wand. Harry loves those and on the upside, you'll have your wand not just ready in your pocket but _in your hand,_ if something happens. And, Sirius, if it does, you'll immediately leave. Take one of these portkeys and bring Harry to safety, do you understand me? No hero moments or anything. If something happens, you'll get my son out of here, without so much as a blink of an eye. Are we clear, Sirius?"

He looked her directly in the eyes and Lily knew that in that precise moment Sirius could see events unfolding in his mind, he saw something going wrong, pictured the scene, a fight for life and death and felt the dragging weight of the decision he would face in this circumstance. Help his friends or run with this godson.

"Yes, Lils, we are."

Lily didn't respond, she just continued to glare at him, as to underline the importance of his promise.

"I think it very caring of you, Lily, that you prepare for all events, but please consider that it is highly unlikely to come to a confrontation. Mr. Pettigrew may be ready to betray you, but he won't fight you. At least not himself. And you'll have a room full of aurors to help you in case the situation should evolve unexpectedly", Dumbledore said softly.

"The problem is, professor, we don't care about ourselves", James explained, exchanging a look with his wife, "we just need to know that Harry will be safe."

Dumbledore just smiled sadly at that and nodded.

"The gift of partenthood..."

A few minutes later the living room was filled with people. Dumbledore had enchanted a couple of portkeys and brought some chosen members of the order of the Phoenix into the small cottage. James, Lily and Sirius were delighted when they saw Remus arrive. Soon after followed Alastor Moody together with Frank and Alice Longbottom. Sturgis Podmore and Dedalus Diggle followed suit as well as Catherine Leroy, Lily's friend from Hogwarts and mother to her goddaughter. The last ones to arrive were Dumbledore's own brother Aberforth and the tiny Elphias Doge. Harry seemed especially fond of him, marvelling at his fluffy white hair. Lily was grateful, that her son was blissfully unaware of the gravity of the situation which brought this group together on that night and she chose to snuggle with her babyboy instead of listening to Dumbledore's words. She knew it all already.

Her heart warmed as she observed all these people's faces contort in anger and disgust as Dumbledore explained the last days' revelations. When he told them of Peter's betrayal, Catherine jumped right of the couch, cursing the rat and her former friend, Remus instead turned white as a sheet, trembling ever so slightly. Soon after, everyone agreed to join in on Dumbledore's plan. Some out of pure defiance for the dark arts, some out of spite and fuelled by revenge, some out of fear for their family and friends, and all of them united in the knowledge that this would be the last and best chance they got to win the war.

When Peter entered the Potter cottage three hours later, he found Lily agitated and James strangely quiet. Both of them told him that it was due to the stress and their lack of sleep. He shrugged it away, too preoccupied to play the part of the dutiful friend. Sirius and Harry were also present when Lily began the incantation for the fidelius, but they sat on the sidelines, playing a game that excited little Harry so much, that he didn't even move to greet Peter. This worked well for everyone. Lily and James weren't sure if they could have taken it if Peter had touched their son and Peter didn't want to spend time with a child whose fate he was going to seal the same night. As sad as it was, for him Harry Potter was dead already and that child was nothing more than a bad dream, meant to fade away soon. As Lily cast the spell and Peter felt this strange sensation in his chest, he almost regretted his choice of becoming a Death Eater, but now was not the time for second-guessing. This time had come and gone long ago. The deed was done and the only thing that remained was to live with the consequences, or as in this case, just live through the war. When Peter left the cottage, he never could have guessed that apart from himself, the Potters and Sirius ten other people had assisted in the casting of the fidelius charm and were now, without his knowledge or permission, able to enter the Potter home as they wished. And they all were waiting for his master to fall into their trap.

~o~

 **3rd November 1981 – Somewhere in Scotland**

It was his birthday and Sirius sat in a tiny room, trying to concentrate and will something to happen. It had been 5 days since Lily and James had made Peter their Secret Keeper. Five days since Sirius had gone into fake hiding and now he grew impatient of waiting. He wanted to do something, he wanted to act, but nothing happened and just waiting and waiting became unnerving to a point that it would soon reach unbearable. From the other room, he could hear Lily's and James' voices. They were arguing as they had been for the last days. Lily had decided to come with them, when it was time to face Voldemort. Not only did she want to stand her ground next to her husband, but seeing all those people, order members and friends, who were willing to risk their lives to defeat Voldemort and thereby protect her boy, had made her determined she would come as well. She was adamant on the issue and it did not matter how often James told her that at least one of them needed to stay out of the fray and survive for Harry. She insisted that Harry would be safest, if Voldemort was defeated and one capable witch more on the battlefield might just make the difference. Sirius had long realised that no one and no argument would change Lily's mind and thus sought out a place to hide where he would not be bothered to participate in their discussion. The four of them plus Remus were currently staying all together in a magical tent-appartment and Sirius had fled to the smallest bedroom. As he sighed, the door to his hideout opened and Remus hurried inside with Harry in his arm.

"Hey Padfoot. Is there enough room for the two us here?"

"Looking for shelter?", Sirius joked.

"Yeah, kind of", Remus replied, then looking down at Harry, he added, "those parents of yours really seem like an old, married couple."

"They are a married couple", Sirius corrected and pulled a chair back offering his friend a seat next to him.

"Married, check. Old? Don't tell Lily that or she might hex you. Then again, she might be to occupied with cursing James into oblivion, if he dares to tell her once more that she won't be safe out there", Remus chuckled.

"He is kind of right about that..."

"Don't you think Lily can hold her own in a duel?"

"Moony, I know for a fact that she can, but still, staying put would be the safer option."

"You may have a point there. But Lily has one, too. Every man, er, and in this case woman, counts. All we need is one lucky spell that hits."

"I never said they didn't."

"She's quite convinced, too. She just told James that she spoke with Cat and that she will come by and take care of Harry. Dumbledore has forbidden her to fight until she has a proper wand again. With her old one broken and all that, it would be way too dangerous."

"Suicidal, clearly."

"Anyway, Cat said that they would have to be the ones informing the aurors."

"Hmm, makes sense. Cat and her mother are well placed within the ministry. If Elisabeth Leroy tells Crouch to do something, it's quite possible the old pig-head might even listen... maybe... if we're lucky..."

Remus shook his head at Sirius' expression.

"So much animosity between the two of you..."

"Merlin, I just hope that their makeup-sex is not as loud as their fighting", Sirius groaned, when Lily raised her voice, reproaching James for something he had said.

"Sirius!", Remus hissed covering Harry's ear, "will you keep your tongue in check with your godson present?!"

"Oh come on. Harry is way too young to understand the meaning of it and by the way how do you think he was conceived, eh?"

Now Remus move his hands to cover his own ears.

"I don't even want to think about it."

Sirius laughed at his fried, who very pointedly closed his eyes, as if he could block out certain images that way.

"Why not? It's the truth."

"They're our friends you impertinent-", but Remus never finished his sentence. Suddenly, he looked down at this wristwatch. It had started to vibrate softly and its clock-face had turned from white to red. His head shot up and he and Sirius shared a look, before darting out of the bedroom. Remus grabbed Harry tightly, as to not let him fall and rushed after Sirius into the neighbouring room. Lily and James stood there, a few feet away from each other and both looking down at their wrists, their argument completely forgotten.

"Everyone move!", Sirius ordered, his auror training taking over, "James, get the cloak. Lily take Harry. Everyone, let's get the formation done as soon as possible!"

Lily hurried over to Remus, taking Harry into her arms.

"Don't you dare go without me, Sirius!", she cried, running towards the door.

"We go as soon as the clock turns blue!", he screamed, looking at James, who nodded grimly, and then added "you'd better hurry, Lily!"

"Let's make the formation downstairs", Remus advised and Sirius and James agreed. All of them rushed forward. James almost tripped over his own feet, as he exited the magical tent that Dumbledore had set up in his private quarters at Hogwarts. James, Sirius and Remus flew towards the exit of the spare room and hurried down the stairs into the headmaster's office. It was empty. Dumbledore was already gone, but in front of the fireplace, paced Lily. The flames turned green as soon as the men entered the room, spitting out a tall young woman with honey-brown hair.

"Cat!", Lily cried as she hugged her friend, "take him. Here. Keep him safe for me, will you?!"

Cat received Harry, who looked around confused by all the fuss the adults were making.

"I will, Lil. I wish i could come with you...You stay safe. Promise?"

Lily smiled sadly at her friend.

"I'll bring him home now and then contact my mother. She'll go straight to Bagnold."

"Just keep Harry safe", Lily said, stroking over her son's head, "see you soon, Harry. Mummy loves you, my sweet boy."

She gave him a soft kiss on the forehead and then turned around to join James, Sirius and Remus, who already stood back against back in a sort of triangle. Lily joined them, all the while looking at her babyboy.

"It's turning blue", Sirius said, "time to go."

"Good luck", Catherine whispered and the four adults took one last look at Harry, who was squirming in Catherine's arms, before they shouted: "Fines serpentis!"

The codeword activated the wristwatches, blue light flashed up and James, Lily, Sirius and Remus were gone.

"Mummy!", Harry cried out for his mother, as the portkey ripped her away, but she couldn't hear him anymore, for now she was miles away; off to fight for her world, for her son.

~o~

 **3rd November 1981 – Godric's Hollow**

This was the moment Alastor had been waiting for. He'd sworn vengeance long before. After the deaths of his brother, his sister and then 605 days ago the murder of his innocent niece, he had prayed for an opportunity like this one. Alysha Moody had been only twenty-six when she had died on a mission protecting that stupid Minchum boy. Of course Alastor knew that it had been Voldemort attacking the late minister's son and that his niece had done the heroic thing, pushing the boy aside, but he had never forgiven Voldemort for that murder, nor quite Minchum. But now, finally, his time had come. Alastor had almost not believed it possible anymore. The war had turned dire for the light side and as of late even the order of the phoenix had been decimated by Death Eater forces. At least, Albus had now succeeded in finding the spy, even if it had been by pure chance and thanks to Sirius Black. If he hadn't raised suspicions about his old friend, Alastor was quite sure, all the Potters would be dead by now. But fortunately it hadn't come to that. Instead, Albus had used that splendid mind of his and turned the traitor against his master, without his own knowledge. The plan was as ludicrously simple as it was risky. It would work, even against an incredibly powerful wizard like Voldemort, but all the pieces had to come together perfectly, in order for them to stand a chance and he, Alastor Moody, stood at the centre of it all. Knowing that he would play such a key role in the Dark Lord's demise satisfied him greatly and Alastor smiled as he waited patiently for his prey to fall into their well sharpened claws.

Five days had gone by since the traitor had been made Secret Keeper and as the sixth was coming to an end, Alastor could almost feel the tension in his bones. Something was going to happen and it would happen soon. The seasoned auror's instincts and his foe-glass told him both that the time of waiting was soon to be over and to his immense satisfaction the strange creation Albus had given him seemed to be useful indeed. Initially, Alastor had snorted once he had seen the device, but after Albus had explained to him what it was capable of, Alastor had changed his mind and now it was five days that he'd been sitting in baby Potter's bedroom, looking trough the telescope. The damned thing had a crazy magical eye spinning on its tip, but in the end, it worked miraculously well. He could see through the walls of the cottage, spy through the neighbours' windows and look upon the sea of reddish rooftops – it didn't matter to the magical eyeball that the roofs were located higher than itself, it didn't care for the presence of thick walls or trees or for trifles such as correct distances and proportions. Alastor could see Godric's Hollow like he had never seen anything before. He could zoom in on a cat strolling through the gardens three streets away, he could count the leafs of trees five blocks off and he could see a cloaked figure appear in the shadows of a nearby park. With perfect clarity did he observe the white face, the flaring nostrils and those murderous red eyes and a cold smile appeared on Alastor's face. Finally his time had come. He'd be having his vengeance soon. He smiled, pulled out his wand and pointed it at his wrist.

 _~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~ ~o~_


End file.
